Merced County Biographies
ASA WILLIAM FINLEY
Transcribed by Kathy Sedler
This file is part of the California Genealogy & History Archives
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cagha/index.htm
A very highly learned California pioneer, now eighty-one years of age,
is Asa William Finley, who is at present making his home at Hotel Stevinson with
his daughter, Mrs. G. H. Blount of Stevinson, Cal. He is one of the oldest, if
not indeed the oldest living settler in California, in point of time of
residence, having been a boy baby of two years of age in his mother's arms when
his father, mother and grandfather, Capt. William Campbell, crossed the plains
to California in 1846. They landed at Santa Clara, Cal., in October, 1846,
settling there when every able-bodied male person, over fifteen years of age,
enlisted and served under John C. Fremont. He was born in Saline County, Mo.,
July 23, 1844, a son of Asa Wallace and Sarah (Campbell) Finley, both born in
Kentucky, where grandfather Campbell was a tanner, though they later moved to
Missouri. The train started from Marshall, Saline County, Mo., in April, 1846.
They were all ordered to rendezvous at St. Joseph, Mo. After traveling some
days, there being a train of 100 wagons, it was found that the train was too
large; so they decided to divide up the train. This was done and William
Campbell was duly elected captain of his division or train. Campbell's company
elected Kit Carson as their guide to take them over the Sierras. The other
company, which was a part of the original train and known as the Donner party,
ill-fated in history, selected Hastings as their guide. Kit Carson hurried his
train through, while Hastings' dilatoriness led to being caught in the snows and
the sad fate of the Donner party. A son of Capt. William Campbell, namely
Benjamin Campbell, took up 160 acres of government land located between two
Spanish grants in Santa Clara County; and when the railroad from San Jose to
Santa Cruz went through, Benjamin Campbell donated the depot site, and the town
of Campbell, Santa Clara County, was named after him. The Finley family
originally came from Ireland. The Campbells were of Scotch origin. The father
and William Campbell and his two sons, Benjamin and David, all
served under Fremont. Asa Wallace Finley became a farmer and raised wheat two
miles south of Santa Clara. Capt. William Campbell, together with Asa Wallace
Finley, built the first sawmill in Santa Clara County. It was built near what is
now Saratoga, back in the mountains, and was operated by them. They manufactured
fir and redwood lumber, which at that time was worth $300 per thousand. Capt.
William Campbell then built the first American store building in San Jose and
was San Jose's first American merchant. There the Finley children grew up. The
parents had seven children, of whom our subject is the second, and the youngest
born in Missouri. The mother died in Kern County, when forty-five years of age.
The father married a second time, to Miss Jane Steele, who also died, leaving
one child. He was married a third time in Missouri to Mrs. Bessie Loper. He died
at Stevinson on February 4, 1910, and was the first person buried in the
Stevinson Cemetery.
Asa William Finley was educated in the early public schools of Santa
Clara and San Jose and grew up on his father's farm. He was married the first
time in Watsonville, Cal., in 1866, to Miss Frances Whisman, born in California.
The Whismans and Moodys were members of the Campbell train crossing the plains.
She died within three years after the marriage, leaving no children. He was
married a second time at Hollister, San Benito County, on October 9, 1872, to
Miss Elmira Hastings, a daughter of John Hastings, who died in Missouri. Elmira
Hastings came out to California in 1871 with her mother and stepfather and
settled that year at Hollister. By this union there were seven children. The
first two children, Rufus and Charles, both died in infancy. The others are:
Lelia, the wife of G. H. Blount, of Stevinson; Edgar, who died at the age of
twenty-three years; LeRoy, who married Mrs. Carrie (Eular) Pascoe, and is
employed by the Standard Oil Company at Richmond; Ella, the wife of William
James of Kernville, Kern County, an extensive stockman; and Nannie L., who
passed away at the age of ten years. The wife and mother died on July 30, 1915.
Mr. Finley was engaged in farming and stock-raising for the greater part
of his life. He bought twenty acres in the Stevinson Colony in 1907, and in 1912
he traded his land for the Hotel Stevinson property. This property he sold to
his daughter, Mrs. G. H. Blount, in May, 1925, and she is now conducting the
hotel. Mr. Finley is still in the real estate business, having been a licensed
realtor for the past five years, and is considered an expert on land values. He
has been a consistent and lifelong Democrat and is one of the best-preserved men
of his years in California. He helped to organize and build the Christian Church
at Stevinson, and was called the "father of the Christian Church in Stevinson."
History of Merced County, California � Los Angeles, Historic Record Co., 1925
page 711-712